"It seems like everything is working for me," Staal said. "Hopefully, I'll keep it going and get this team in the playoffs."

Veteran teammate Mark Recchi said Staal has been "unbelievable."

"We've had a lot of guys chip in, but Jordan has been tremendous for us through this stretch," Recchi said. "It's remarkable to me how he's just kept getting better and better from Day 1 of the season. He never played left wing before."

Maple Leafs center Kris Newbury was taken off the ice on a stretcher late in the third period after a fight with Pittsburgh's Ronald Petrovicky. The Toronto forward took several punches to the head before falling to the ice. He stayed motionless for several minutes before taken being off.

The two dropped gloves 33 seconds after Pittsburgh tied it at 5, and the game was delayed for about 6 minutes.

"He's alert and he was on the ice when he left," Toronto coach Paul Maurice said. "He's conscious and talking. We'll test him out tonight and tomorrow."

Maurice said it reminds him how violent the game can be.

"It doesn't matter how tough you are or how many punches you've taken if you get hit in the right spot you're going down," Maurice said. "It's a pretty serious business when they drop those gloves."

A regular season record crowd of 19,620 came to see Pittsburgh star Sidney Crosby.